BREAKING: Oil hits $100 a barrel
Oil is starting 2008 with a bang: Today, for first time ever, a barrel of crude oil traded for $100. Oil has traded close to $100 for months but there is just something about breaking the $100 barrier. "This is an important psychological number" said Rick Mueller, an analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc. Emil Pena director of the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute at Rice University in Houston says, "These prices are here to stay. ... We have to come to grips with these high prices. I hope this will lead to us becoming more efficient and increase our energy education." The reasons are the same as always - high demand and low supplies - but the only thing I am really concerned about is how much gas will cost in 2008?
[Source: Bloomberg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mort 5:35PM (1/02/2008)
I hope this will lead to us becoming more efficient and increase our energy education.
He said, as he stepped off his yacht and onto his private jet.
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Tim 5:39PM (1/02/2008)
One of the primary reasons is that the dollar is collapsing as a global currency. Congress can't control their spending so the Fed is simply flooding the market with the fiat currency. The more they print, the less ours is worth thus everything costs more. The US $Dollar has lost 50% of its value in less than 5 years.
US $ Dollar vs. Euro: http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/graph120.html
US $ Dollar vs gold: http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html
The Collapsing $US Dollar: http://www.europac.net/
This will get much worse.
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TX CHL Instructor 6:16PM (1/02/2008)
As I observed a few days ago (and Tim just wrote), the price of oil is not really going up much. The value of the Dollar is declining.
The pursuit of 'green' should be pretty much independent of the price of a barrel of oil at this point. Oil will eventually go up quite a bit, but probably not fast enough to get us off of it for another 10 years.
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Kardax 7:19PM (1/02/2008)
Regardless of the reasons for the rise in price of oil, America's incomes are not keeping pace. Over time, this will compel people to drive more efficient vehicles for simple financial reasons.
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mike 7:23PM (1/02/2008)
Things might stabilize with a Democratic President and a Democratic congress. Why under a Republican President are we not allowed to know what M3 is, is not a good sign. Who directed the Fed to turn the dollar into the peso?
And as for spending, that's mostly Years of Republican spending, don't try to push the blame on to this year's congress Tim.
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Tim 8:41PM (1/02/2008)
mike, your ignorance astounds me.
You will find that nothing changes after this next election cycle. The ONLY candidate on either side who is willing to bring the troops home NOW is Ron Paul. NO other candidate will close ALL foreign military bases, end corporate welfare and foreign aid and cease the unmanageable spending on the military industrial complex and as all those unaffordable "entitlements".
The tip of the baby boom is tidal wave is jus arriving and the "government debt has just already passed $9 Trillion! http://brillig.com/debt_clock/ The total debt including unfunded mandates like socialist insecurity etc is well over $40 Trillion and this figure does NOT include individual private or corporate debt. Hell, the Democrats want to give benefits to all illegal aliens! We're done fore unless we shrink government to constitutional levels (including the 10th Amendment) and no Socialist-Democrat or Neo Conservative candidate has the political courage to do what it takes. Hell, all but one or 2 candidates are members of the CFR who’s stated goal is world government of the elite and for the elite with ZERO rights and only privileges which can be removed at ANY time.
Foreigners are finally catching on and not even China will buy our T-Bills anymore. They are however willing to buy our infrastructure and manufacturing base so that we can’t make any more products to dig ourselves out of this pit of debt.
Don’t be so naive and NEVER listen to what a politician says. ONLY what they have done or will do matters and they just can’t say NO when it comes to spending your money on pet projects for campaign contributors.
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Mark Goldes 9:09PM (1/02/2008)
Cars as Cash Cows! cash cow: Slang. A steady dependable source of income
Will a Breakthrough Technology Turn Vehicles into 100 kW Power Plants?
A revolutionary breakthrough by Magnetic Power Inc., called GENIE™ (Generating Electricity by Nondestructive Interference of Energy) promises to make possible the elimination of the need for batteries of every variety. GENIE generators are expected to replace the need to plug-in a plug-in hybrid. Two kW is all the power that can be taken from a typical wall socket. A pair of 1 kW GENIE generators are expected to demonstrate a compact, inexpensive, capability to end the need to plug-in, prior to the end this year.
If the development of GENIE generators is put on a 24/7 footing, it may be possible to provide 100 kW systems that will fit in the space of a typical gas tank, on a prototype basis in perhaps two years. If that occurs, since no fuel or battery recharge is required, automobile manufacturers may conclude that engines are likely to become obsolete.
Consumer purchasing patterns could begin to reflect a new reality, with the market deciding most future cars must be totally electric, since they will never need any variety of fuel. Better yet, many cars might become cash cows!
The economics are likely to prove compelling. Until now, car ownership has been an expense. Vehicle to Grid power (V2G), has been explored in a modest way for hybrids. Plug-in hybrids, equipped with a two way plug, can feed power to the local utility while parked. This is perhaps 90% of the time for the average vehicle. Professor Willet Kempton, at the University of Delaware, has stated the car’s owner could earn up to $4,000 every year.
GENIE powered cars are expected to be capable of generating at least 75 kW and perhaps 100 kW in the volume of a typical fuel tank. In the case of luxury cars, trucks and buses, it seems 150 kW will prove practical. Technology already exists that, using inductive electronics, can wirelessly couple up to 150 kW to the grid from parked vehicles. No plug connection will be required.
A large plug installed in a hybrid would provide, at most, perhaps 12 kW to the utility. If that 12 kW can annually pay the vehicle owner $4,000, imagine what the income might be with an inductively coupled 75 kW or larger GENIE generator. If the price per kW is the same as that used in the University of Delaware analysis, we could be considering payments totaling $25,000, or more, per year. With utility cooperation, the car can become a cash cow!
When a substantial number of vehicles powered by GENIE generators fill a parking garage, it will have become a multi-megawatt power plant.
Doubtless, when millions of cars and trucks are selling power to the grid, the price per kilowatt paid will decline. However, it still seems likely that the cost of many vehicles might be paid for by utilities, as they purchase power whenever needed. The parked cars, trucks and buses, each become decentralized power plants - a rapid, cost-effective alternative to the many tough and costly challenges of constructing new coal burning and nuclear power generation facilities. Utilities and vehicle manufacturers have a unique opportunity to lead the nation and the world into a dramatic reduction in the need for oil. Future wars over energy supply might be avoided.
James Hansen, NASA Goddard, stated (January 2, 2008): “The earth is close to passing climate change ‘tipping points.’ Greenhouse gases released in burning fossil fuels are nearing a level that will set in motion dangerous effects, many irreversible, including extermination of countless species, ice sheet disintegration and sea-level rise, and intensified regional climate extremes. As a society we face a stark choice.
Move on to the next phase of the industrial revolution, preserving and restoring wonders of the natural world, while maintaining and expanding benefits of advanced technology. Or ignore the problem, sentencing humanity and other creatures to struggle on an increasingly desolate planet.” What better way to address the problem than by turning cars into power plants.
Website: www.magneticpowerinc.com
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mike 9:53PM (1/02/2008)
Tim,
You vote for Mr. Paul, I'll vote for Mr. Edwards. Maybe we can get these parties to wake up.
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MarkR 8:57AM (1/03/2008)
yeah mike and tim, and I'll vote Huckabee!
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Tim 9:13AM (1/03/2008)
The ambulance chasing "Breck Girl" trial attorney, the bible thumper or the Constitution... it's your choice!
Of course, there is that matter of separation of church and state and attorneys are trained to make their living by telling half-truth's and bald face lies. They also face an immediate conflict of interest because they “make” laws that they will some day profit from in court, but hey isn’t that the PERFECT politician!
Now exactly HOW is Mr. Edwards, Esquire going to shrink this unaffordable government and isn’t “Esquire” a title of nobility? I thought we already fought a war to rid ourselves of the “noble” class. I guess the elitists will always be with us… like ignorance or pestilence.
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